A MERSEYSIDE schoolgirl had the experience of a lifetime when she accompanied Steven Gerrard onto the pitch at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev for England’s dramatic UEFA Euro 2012 clash against Sweden.

Elizabeth Adams was a McDonald’s Player Escort and had the honour of walking with the England and Liverpool skipper ahead of the match.

This fantastic opportunity – part of the McDonald’s Player Escort programme – saw nine-year-old Elizabeth travel out to Ukraine, where she met footballers Owen Hargreaves and Freddie Ljungberg at a special McDonald’s Player Escort event before heading to the stadium to walk out with the players and watch England take on Sweden in the Ukraine capital.

Elizabeth, who entered a competition on the McDonald’s Kickstart website, walked out with her heroes including goalkeeper Joe Hart and winger Ashley Young.

Following England’s thrilling 3-2 win against Sweden, with goals from Andy Carroll, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, the national team will now look to carry this momentum into their final UEFA Euro 2012 Group D match against hosts Ukraine in Donetsk this evening.

Sir Geoff Hurst, McDonald’s director of football said: “Walking out onto the pitch at a packed stadium during an international tournament is a once in a lifetime experience.

“The atmosphere and noise around the stadium is something Elizabeth will never forget and I hope she enjoyed every second of her experience whilst in Kiev.

“It was great to see England continue their good run of form from the France game and hopefully this will give us a strong platform to build on for the final game in a tough Group D.”

The Wirral youngster said: “It was amazing being in a packed stadium with the England team at an international tournament. Not many people get to walk onto the pitch at a European Championships and I can’t wait to tell all my friends about it!”

McDonald’s and The FA have been community partners since 2002 and since then have worked together to help young footballers shine by creating more opportunities for children to get involved in football.

Through this partnership McDonald’s and The FA will support 400,000 volunteers, 6,000 grassroots clubs and create a total of 30,000 qualified coaches by 2014.

The partnership will also work towards the objective of ensuring that 75% of all youth clubs are awarded FA Charter Standard status before the end of 2014, which will help to ensure clubs are safe, supportive and fun places for young people to enjoy playing football.

For more information on McDonald’s grassroots programmes and for future competitions visit www.mcdonalds.co.uk/kickstart